Market News: Polycom, Hertz Global Holdings, eBay

The stock markets in the United States climbed today. The Federal Reserve said the country’s economy is close to guaranteeing an interest rate hike last month, but policy makers decided to wait for more economic data to see further proof of global slowdown.

The minutes of the meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) showed that policymakers were concern about the signs of global economic weakness. However, the situation did not materially alter their outlook for the U.S. economy.

The Fed noted that U.S. economy continued to improve despite the concerns regarding China’s weakening economy and its potential spillover globally.

“Nevertheless, in part because of the risks to the outlook for economic activity and inflation, the committee decided that it was prudent to wait for additional information,” according to the Fed.

[drizzle]In an interview with Bloomberg, Stephen Carl, principal and head equity trader at Williams Capital Group, commented, “They rehashed that people are waiting for clarity on the outlook of the economy. Investors are potentially looking at it as dovish like more time is being bought by the Fed. We have to see what exactly transpires in the weeks ahead.”

On the other hand, Frank Cappelleri, a market technician at Instinet LCC said, “The market’s resiliency near the highs over last few days help set it up for this kind of initial response.” He noted that it was the first time for the S&P 500 to reach the 2,000 level since the Fed’s announcement on September 17.

Capelleri said the index “got the same kind of pop after the news was announced, but it didn’t make for any upside follow through. A lot of people will be looking to see if we can hold things better this time around.”

U.S. Markets

Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) – 17, 050.75 (+0.82%)

S&P 500- 2.013.43 (+0.88%)

NASDAQ- 4,810.79 (+0.41%)

Russell 2000- 1163.24 (+0.92%)

European Markets

EURO STOXX 50 Price EUR- 3,224.96 (-0.04%)

FTSE 100 Index- 6,374.82 (+0.61%)

Deutsche Borse AG German Stock Index DAX- 9,993.07 (+0.23%)

Asia-Pacific Markets

Nikkei 225- 18,141.17 (-0.99%)

Hong Kong Hang Seng Index- 22,354.91 (-0.71%)

Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300 Index- 3,296.48 (+2.92%)

Stocks in Focus

The stock price of Polycom surged more than 16% to $13.35 per share after Elliott disclosed an active stake in the company. The activist investor also urged the company to perform an immediate strategic review its business and consider a merger with Mitel Networks.

The shares of Mitel Networks also increased more than 16% to $8.18 per share today. Elliott acquired an active stake in the company. Elliott owns 6.6% of Polycom and 9.6% of Mitel Networks.

The shares Hertz Global Holdings climbed more than 7% to $19.81 a piece. The company partnered with Lyft to offer rental cars to its drivers.

The stock value of eBay declined almost 6% to $24.15 per share. ChannelAdvisor reported that the company’s same-store sales in September declined to 1.1% from 3.4% in August.